Pakistan

Extreme events in recent years, in the form of floods, earthquake, and glacial lake outbursts, have revealed Pakistan's high vulnerability to climate impacts and have pushed disaster risk management up on the policy agenda. But it remains challenging to progress policy and funding focus from disaster relief and recovery to more long term resilience building and risk reduction measures.

CDKN is working with the Government of Pakistan to achieve proactive and inclusive policy action on low carbon and climate resilient development. The aim is to transform Government’s response to climate change and disaster risks from adhoc and short term solutions to more strategic and informed action that reduces the threat to vulnerable populations. There is also an interest in cataylizing a shift towards low carbon development pathways in key areas of the economy. Technical and research support is supporting the Government to take concrete steps for implementing the National Climate Change Policy using a participatory process.

Progress and Impact

In the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lie the solution to Pakistan’s three central challenges: development, democracy and defence. Implementing the UN’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development, if realised as an integrated policy package, will also lead to long-term economic prosperity, human and environmental development. Ali Tauqeer Sheikh -
Director, CDKN Asia

Pakistan is highly vulnerable to natural hazards - exacerbated by the impacts of climate change – and so CDKN worked with the National Disaster Management authority (NDMA) to create a viable Disaster Risk Insurance scheme for the poor and low income families in the most disaster prone areas. CDKN has also worked with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority of Punjab for climate and disaster resilient construction in the most vulnerable areas of the province. Working with the city government of Karachi, it has helped implement a plan for mitigating the risks related to heat wave effects that claimed the lives of 1200 citizens in the year 2015. CDKN worked with the Ministry of Climate Change and the Government of Punjab to develop a subnational Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) for the city of Sialkot providing renewable energy solutions for its energy-starved private sector industries. Working with the government, as well as the private and development sectors, a comprehensive pioneering study was carried out on low carbon development scenarios for Pakistan based on an evaluation of its greenhouse gas emissions. CDKN also supported the Ministry of Climate Change in scoping and developing a climate compatible development work programme, to provide an action plan for the priority sections of the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP).

CDKN supported a project to facilitate Karachi city district government in heat wave management. The activities were designed to initiate a process at the localised level which can build towards the development of heat wave management plan for Karachi. [more...]

Pakistan is in the midst of high economic growth and major industrial expansion, but it is also highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This special outlook newsletter rounds up CDKN's programme to help set Pakistan on a more climate compatible footing. [more...]